Facebook flayed for sharing chat history in abortion case in US
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San Francisco: Facebook has come under fire after it reportedly complied with the US police probing an abortion case months after the Supreme Court overturned the national right abortion in late June.
Fears about the government using social media giant as a tool to identify potential abortion moves have come true.
Reports revealed the social networking giant had turned over messages key to a mother being criminally charged with an abortion for her daughter, according to AFP.
Experts have already warned of this happening considering the fact that big tech companies hold a trove of data on users' locations and behavior.
The 41-year-old Jessica Burgess, who is accused of helping her 17-year-old to abort a pregnancy in Nebraska, face five charges.
Her daughter faces three charges including one of concealing or abandoning a corpse, according the AFP report.
However, the Facebook told AFP when asked about handing over data that "the law requires us to do so", complying with the government requests.
Years before Supreme Court overturned Roe v Wade, Nebraska adopted restrictions, and following the Supreme Court's ruling some 16 states overnight bans or limits abortion in the early weeks of pregnancy.
Obviously Nebraska case is not the last to comply with the abortion policy, as Alexandra Givens, CEO of the non-profit Center for Democracy & Technology said this is going to keep happening as companies hold troves of data about people across the country and the world.
She also noted there are strong incentives for the companies to want to comply with duly-issued legal request under a valid law.
